I woke up to the sight of blue tendrils mixing together to create a sight so beautiful I couldn't even comprehend it.
I was confused for a second, but then I remembered. And I sat up, looking around me.
I was no longer in the pilot's seat. I was lying on the bench behind the cockpit. I looked forward only to find the Padawan at the wheel, playing with his lightsaber hilt. He was levitating it, making it do fancy twirls and spins.
I smiled. It was interesting to see him, a Jedi, do something so…
So human.
"Hello there." I called, and Obi-Wan got such a fright that he must have turned the saber on using the Force, and it crashed to the ground in a flurry of blue light, making a little indent in the floor before switching off, as lightsabers were made to do.
I burst out laughing, while the Padawan scowled at me. I couldn't stop, and eventually I was lying there with my head in my hands and tears in my eyes. However, I finally gained control, and glanced at my companion, only to find him staring straight at me. He quickly looked away, a small smile playing at his lips, and I smirked back.
"So, where to?" I asked, jumping up and seating myself on the passenger seat. I proceeded to kick my feet up on the dashboard. Obi-Wan glanced at my shoes distastefully, and I laughed.
He smiled, then looked out at the colours of hyperspace. "I'm not sure. All I know is that we're safe from those bounty hunters."
I raised an eyebrow. "All I know is that we're never truly safe." I said pessimisticly. He smirked at my negative attitude, and I chuckled.
"Well, I think we'll be the safest on a remote planet." He replied to my earlier question.
"Really? Isn't that the first place people would look for us?" I asked, and he shrugged. "I'm positive we've both got a high bounty on our heads now. We need to try to blend in, instead of hiding. I think that's our best chance. If we go somewhere entirely remote, many people can track us. But if we blend in with the big crowds…" I trailed off, the rest self explanatory.
"I guess…" Obi replied, visibly unconvinced.
"You're not going to like where I think we should go." I told him, looking away guiltily. He stared back, impatient. "Coruscant."
He gaped at me. "Are you crazy? No!" He shouted. I knew that the Jedi Temple was at Coruscant, and the last place Obi-Wan wanted to go was there.
"Come on, the Jedi could protect us!" I argued, stubornly looking out the window. Obi didn't reply, and I looked at him expectantly, only to find his face was…
Guilty.
He glanced at me and saw my pointed expression. Then he sighed. "Maybe Senator Palpatine wasn't exactly… truthful." I frowned. What was he saying?
"Go on," I encouraged.
Obi-Wan was silent for a moment. "Neither the Jedi Council nor the Senate agreed to protect you. Frankly, they all decided against it." I gaped at him. "But Senator Palpatine is an old friend of yours, right?" I gave a small nod, still mulling over how this entire offer wasn't even half true. Palpatine and my father used to be great friends, and the Senator had always favoured me and my beliefs. "He really wanted to help you, understandably. So, he told Master Qui-Gon and I all about you, and we agreed to help you, even though it would mean we'd probably get suspended or expelled if we were ever found out."
I could not fathom why people would put themselves in so much danger for a stranger. "Why…" I trailed off, not sure what I even wanted to ask. "So we can't go to the Jedi, or they would strip your rank or something?"
Obi looked at his feet. "Or worse."
I glanced at him again, gratefully this time. I didn't know why he stuck his neck out for a stranger… but I was grateful for it.
"Okay. So…" I trailed off, unsure of where to suggest.
"No, you're right. We should go to Coruscant." Obi-Wan concluded. "Just not to the Jedi. Why don't we go to the Uscru District?" I thought back to that district on Coruscant. It was mostly inhabited with people willing to do anything for credits. "If we stick to ourselves, blend in, even if all the bounty hunters in the galaxy gathered there they wouldn't be able to find us. We'll collect resources, find somewhere to stay, and then leave."
I thought it over. It could work. We could fit in well, maybe even do a bit of work to demolish all suspicion. "Okay." I replied, nodding slowly while punching in the coordinates. However, we were on the wrong hyperspace lane, which meant it would take us a while to get there.
I leant back, kicking my feet up once more. Obi-Wan chuckled again. "You know, when I first met you, I thought you were one of those posh kind of Senators that Qui-Gon and I were sent to protect. You really are the opposite." I raised my brows, smirking.
"You'll find a lot about me is not as you'd expect," I told him. As I watched his smirk widen, I realised he was acting different than he was when we were in danger, or having polite conversation.
No, Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the best Padawans I'd seen, was opening up to me.
"So? How much is a little bit of beskar?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes as I realised he was referring to when I'd tried to brush off the fact that I was wearing a full suit of Mandalorian armour.
Awkwardly, I stood up and began to take off my dress. Obi-Wan just stared, confused. "Well, do you wanna see or not?" I teased. He turned red at his mind. I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna need some help."
The Padawan scrambled upright, his cheeks the colour of a ripe tomato. He unzipped my dress from the back, and after a few moments the dress was on the floor, and I was standing gracefully in a suit of black beskar armour.
He marvelled at its beauty, crouching down to admire it. "I've never seen black beskar…" he suddenly frowned. "Wait… you…" he looked up, confused. I frowned back at him.
"What?" I demanded. Obi-Wan stood up, his face inches from mine. I suddenly felt conscious of how close we really were.
"It was you?" He asked. "The Mandalorian who showed us to our rooms… it was you?" Now it was my turn to go red. I had completely forgotten that I couldn't wear my armour in front of them.
"Uh… no." I stuttered. "No, that was my personal guard. We all wear the same uniform…" I trailed off as I realised Obi-Wan was staring at my opened suitcase.
And right at the top, visible to the entire galaxy, was my helmet and jet pack.
I laughed nervously. He looked back at me, but he didn't look angry.
No. He was smirking at me.
"Good to know, Lily Nyx." I started to stutter an excuse, but Obi-Wan held up a hand jokingly, going to sit in his chair once more. I smiled, collapsing on my own as we jumped out of hyperspace, and the popular planet of Coruscant came into view.
I always loved Coruscant, for reasons I couldn't explain. There just always seemed to be so many things happening on the planet, so many events that changed the course of history.
But the planet itself was a sight for sore eyes. Although, many saw the beauty in the circular rings of lights and the clouds of pollution, visible from orbit.
I entered the atmosphere, scanning for the closest, and safest, space port close to the Uscru District.
Pressing the necessary buttons, I joined the space port's comm link.
"Uscru District here, do you wish to land?" The crackled voice came over to my ship.
"Yes." I replied simply. "Which bay may we land on?"
There was a moment of silence. I held my breath, even though it was impossible for them to know we had stolen the ship.
"What's your business?" The man asked.
"Uh, we want to find somewhere to settle down on Coruscant." Obi-Wan replied this time, implying that I wasn't alone, which was less suspicious.
Suddenly, laughter came over the comm. "In the Uscru District? Couldn't you have chosen somewhere else?" The man joked. I glanced at Obi-Wan, not a hint of a smile on my face. I laughed falsely for effect. "What's your ship called? Haven't seen any of these Correlian makes on Coruscant for a while."
I looked over at Obi-Wan. "What's the ship called? I whispered. He shrugged. I looked out at the Coruscant scenery, which mainly consisted of skyscrapers.
"The… Millennium Falcon." I replied, getting the name from the back of my head. "One of the greatest ships in the galaxy. Extra fast." That part was true. The Correlian ship was faster than any I'd seen before.
"Alright, Millennium Falcon, you're clear to land in Bay Five." The comm went static, and I sighed in relief. Obi smiled quickly, his sign of relief.
We landed in the bay with no problem, as the ship was fairly easy to pilot, apart from the fact that it was an absolute junk pile.
When we had landed, and I powered the ship off, I grabbed my helmet from my luggage, putting it under my arm. When Obi looked at me, I merely shrugged. "Don't want people knowing the Duchess of Mandalore is in the Uscru District. I explained, and he chuckled. "You could do with a disguise yourself."
Obi frowned. "I don't-" I shut him up by dumping a brown cloak that I found in my suitcase over his head. He stood awkwardly, looking incredibly suspicious.
"At least try to cover your face," I advised. He rolled his eyes, relaxing a little. I guessed it was good enough.
We walked through the hallways of the broken down ship, and I surveyed it, but I found the same results. As much as a junk pile as it was before, with many aspects needing to be fixed before it would fly again.
We then lowered the ramp, stepping out into the cold sunlight as I pulled on my helmet.
"Ah, my friends!" A voice cried. I looked up to find a Weequay walking towards us. He was wearing goggles and his tusks were quite small, and so was he. He looked about our age.
"Who are you?" Obi-Wan said, walking slightly in front of me. I rolled my eyes. I was the one wearing pure beskar. I bumped his shoulder, standing in front of him now. He smirked slightly at me.
I realised, after a few moments, that I was staring at him, and he was staring right back, and we were ignoring the Weequay for a prolonged moment. I looked back at the unknown figure in front of us, who was smiling, his eyes darting between Obi-Wan and I. My cheeks went pink, although luckily, I had my helmet on, so nobody would see me blush.
After a few moments, he finally answered Obi-Wan's question. "I am Hondo Ohnaka!" He cried dramatically. "At your service, young couple." He bowed low.
"Oh, we're not together." Obi-Wan corrected. I raised a brow, but said nothing. He was right. We hardly knew each other.
"Really?" Hondo asked, his own brows wiggling. "If you say so," he extended his vowels, and I rolled my eyes. I almost sensed Obi-Wan doing it too.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Ohnaka.
He chuckled. "What am I doing here? The question is: what are you doing here?" He asked, but neither Obi-Wan nor I replied, wordlessly agreeing that he must speak first, and that we must keep everything we can secret. Hondo sighed. "I work at this ship port." He said it as if he was ashamed.
"Lose a bet?" I asked, attempting to act like the locals. It seemed to work.
"Yes, yes, but - not much to pay it off, eh? Then I'll be back in the sky!" Hondo continued to mumble, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.
"So? Is this space port safe?" Obi asked, and Hondo laughed.
"Safe? Here, my friends, nothing is safe!" He spat it out, as if 'safe' wasn't even a real word. "But, yes, this here is the best spaceport in the Uscru District." I scoffed. Hondo seemed prone to exaggeration.
I looked over at my companion, and realised that with him wearing a funny looking cloak and wearing it so strangely, I would be the best fitted to do any threatening.
So, without another word, I stalked up to Hondo. He visibly backed up.
"If there is a scrape on that ship by the time I get back, or, worse, it isn't here, I will find you in whatever planet you crawl onto, and you will regret ever crossing me." Hondo gulped, and I saw a bead of sweat trail down his temple. He was trying to hide it, but I smirked at his fear. "Right, shall we be going then, darling?" I called to Obi-Wan. He first looked surprised, but then caught and played along.
"Of course, my dear." He said nervously, but it only added to the act. Just as we were about the leave the bay, Hondo called to us.
"What's your names? So I can keep the ship under your record, of course." I froze.
Deciding quickly, I answered him without stuttering to keep up the disguise. "I am Lily. He is Ben. That is all you need to know." Hondo nodded enthusiastically, but I could sense his fear as we walked out, and we both visibly relaxed.
"You were a natural," Obi-Wan complimented.
"Thank you, my dear Ben." I raised my voice, mocking Obi while also keeping our cover. He scoffed, the ghost of a smile on his face.
"Ben what? And Lily what?"
I sighed. "I dunno. Ben Kenobi. Lily Nyx." He smiled at the alias I had given myself the first time we'd met, and also at the pathetic attempt at a cover for his last name. But he seemed to play along.
"And what are we?" He asked as we walked onto the streets of Coruscant. I marvelled at the busyness and the popularity of the place, with people in every corner and speeders all around, with massive skyscrapers dotting the background.
A perfect place to blend in.
"We're…" I thought of a good cover story. "Engaged."
Obi-Wan nodded, and as I glanced at him, I noticed he tried not to show any expression at my words. I chuckled internally. "And where do we live?"
I scanned the area. "That is still to be decided."
We walked around for a long time, searching for real estate or any building for sale.
And we found nothing.